Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

On Feb. 6, a team led by pathobiology professor Ying Fang, a virologist at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, diagnosed a pet dog in Chicago with infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans. This is the first dog in Illinois to test positive for the coronavirus.

Veterinarians believe the source of infection was a SARS-CoV-2-infected pet-sitter who had cared for the dog at the time of infection while the dog’s owners were away.

The dog developed respiratory symptoms after exposure to the pet-sitter. When the dog failed to get better after a few weeks, the...